Holly Ratchford spoke publicly for the first time about Omar al-Bayoumi and two men later identified as 9/11 hijackers, pulling a San Diego apartment complex into the long legal trail around when was 9/11. She said she met Bayoumi through Parkwood Apartments in San Diego, California, and now describes a man she once saw as a regular at her pool parties.
Parkwood Apartments in San Diego
Bayoumi moved to 152 Parkwood Apartments in San Diego with his family in September 1999. Ratchford said he became a familiar presence, adding: "He was always so bubbly and smiling," and "and just very, very friendly." She also said: "Whenever I had parties he would come and be a part of the activities," before later saying, "It's almost impossible for me to wrap my head around who he said he was, and who he really is. I still struggle with that," and, in the related headline context, "I bought into everything."
Hazmi and Khalid
Ratchford introduced Bayoumi to Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, the two men who later became her neighbours. Both were involved in hijacking American Airlines flight 77 and crashing it into the Pentagon. That sits beside the larger picture of 11 September 2001, when four passenger aircraft were hijacked by 19 members of al-Qaeda, two were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after resistance from passengers on board. Almost 3,000 people were killed, including about 300 firefighters and other emergency workers at the World Trade Center.
New York court ruling
Bayoumi is alleged to have facilitated the 9/11 plot through support for Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar. A federal judge found that the evidence created a reasonable inference that Bayoumi and a Saudi diplomat based in the US had been co-ordinating with the Saudi government when providing assistance to the hijackers, and that ruling allowed the 9/11 families' lawsuit against Saudi Arabia to move forward.
Saudi Arabia is appealing the ruling, and Bayoumi and Saudi Arabia have denied the allegations. Ratchford's decision to speak now adds a first-person account to a case built on sealed testimony and a judicial finding that has kept the New York court proceeding alive.
